Eureka Driver Killed in Fatal Crash; Names of Passengers Released

CHP Feature FatalityPress release from the California Highway Patrol:

On 05-26-17, at approximately 12:30 A.M., a 1994 Ford Bronco was driving north on US-101, north of Reynolds Highway in Mendocino County. For unknown reasons, the Ford made a turning movement to the left and crossed over the double yellow lines, proceeding into the southbound traffic lane. At the same time, a 2008 Dodge Ram pickup was driving south on US-101, north of Reynolds Highway in Mendocino County. The Ford crossed into the opposing traffic lane right in front of the Dodge and the two vehicles collided head on. Both vehicles came to rest within the southbound and northbound traffic lanes and caught fire. The Dodge had five passengers inside, not including the driver. The drivers became trapped within the driver seats of their respective vehicles as a result of the collision.

Immediately after the collision, a Good Samaritan came upon the scene and got out of his vehicle in order to see if everyone was okay. He quickly realized that the fire was spreading and began to extricate everyone that he could from the Dodge. Due to his quick thinking and expediency, all five passengers from the Dodge were safely rescued from the vehicle. Unfortunately, the driver (identity being withheld pending family notification) was trapped in the driver seat as the Dodge became fully engulfed and suffered fatal injuries. The driver of the Ford (identity being withheld pending family notification) was also trapped and was not extricated before his vehicle became engulfed as well, and he suffered fatal injuries.

All injured parties were transported by ambulances from Ukiah, Willits and Laytonville to area hospitals. Personnel from Little Lake Fire Department, Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, Willits Police Department, Verihealth, Laytonville Fire Department and Ukiah CHP assisted with the control of, and the investigation of, the collision scene. This collision remains under investigation by the Garberville CHP.

At this time, the cause of this collision is under investigation and it appears impaired driving may have been a factor as well.

Below are the names ages and injury status of the passengers.

CHP traffic report headingsCHP traffic reportCHP traffic report

Earlier Chapter: Two Die in Fiery Crash North of Willits Early This Morning

Fiery Car crash

[Photo provided by a reader]

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31 Comments
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MOGTX
Guest
6 years ago

Sad another fatal crash rest in peace been saying that a lot lately.

Sad
Guest
Sad
6 years ago

I hope they weren’t conscious,bad way to go

Lyndsi
Guest
Lyndsi
6 years ago

Thank you to the Good Samaritan who stopped and saved the lives of my nephew and the other people involved you are a hero in our eyes. We would love to thank you personally.

William
Guest
William
6 years ago
Reply to  Lyndsi

The young man’s name is Dalton he works at the gas station in laytonville

William
Guest
William
6 years ago
Reply to  William

Sorry case of misidentification I thought it was the same guy apparently it wasn’t Dalton. sorry again folks

Heidi W.
Guest
Heidi W.
6 years ago
Reply to  William

The Good Samaritan was a lovely man visiting from the Bay Area. His name is Nick Anderson.

M
Guest
M
6 years ago

Thank you to the person who saved the family of five in the Dodge. You were God’s angel today. All adults had major or near fatal injuries while the 1 and 7 year old had only minor injuries that would have been fatal had they had no adult to rescue them from that fiery Inferno. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

butterflymom707
Guest
butterflymom707
6 years ago
Reply to  M

he is a human angel for sure….one act of kindness saved 5 people….thank you….i hope we can find out who you are, so we can honor you.

Kelley
Guest
Kelley
6 years ago

CHP Officer Taylor said yesterday they will publicly thank this man, but they are giving him some privacy first. I imagine he has a lot to think about after yesterday morning.

Teresa Janowski
Guest
Teresa Janowski
6 years ago

Thank you Lord for sending someone just at that time for if not for the good “Samaritan” all lives would have been lost.

hmm
Guest
hmm
6 years ago

And curse Santan for causing the crash!

Killapotomus
Guest
Killapotomus
6 years ago

Wow ! Thank you so much for putting yourself out there ! So many observe and do not act . Your a savior !

fellow human
Guest
fellow human
6 years ago

Kudos to the Good Citizen that stopped to help people in mortal danger! Wish there were more out there like you! A true hero!

Condolences to the families for the loss of their loved ones.

mendocino mamma
Guest
mendocino mamma
6 years ago

Thank you for helping these people. Your kindness and fast thinking is a wonderful testimonial that there are kind humans left out there in the world.
Bless you and your selflessness.
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Veterans friend
Guest
Veterans friend
6 years ago

Blessings to the person who stopped to help. Heros are among us.

Renaissance1
Guest
Renaissance1
6 years ago

There are still some good people out there, restores faith in humanity. God Bless the families of the deceased.

Life is Good
Guest
Life is Good
6 years ago

Congratulations to the person that stopped and saved lives. There’s folks out there that wouldn’t do that. Very brave.

Sam
Guest
Sam
6 years ago

Thanks for the updated story.
I have done the middle of night drive, you never know what is around the curve on the 101.

Ezra
Guest
Ezra
6 years ago

What a horrible way to die, whoever that good Samaritan is deserves a medal for saving those people..

Capitalist pig
Guest
Capitalist pig
6 years ago

That time of day I wonder was it a crew headed out to work in the woods or was it a family?

Capitalist pig
Guest
Capitalist pig
6 years ago

I praise god for that hero thanku Jesus

Julie
Guest
Julie
6 years ago

Have they released the names of the drivers yet? Sorry for the loss to all families involved.

Samantha Cagle
Guest
Samantha Cagle
6 years ago

My name is Samantha my son Jacob was the 7 year old in the Dodge truck with the Delgado family​. We would love to thank those involved in the rescue of our son and the Delgado family you don’t have to go public, but we can not thank you enough for being so brave. If not for your bravery we would not have them in our lives today. You are saving Angels……. thank you

Lucas zhao
Guest
6 years ago
Reply to  Samantha Cagle

My name is Lucas Zhao. I was driving in my van up the 101 and was the responder to the scene. I am so happy to hear that you guys are safe and okay. I am so sorry about your father and I wish I could have helped more. It’s hard not to feel guilty about not being able to save another life.

I appreciate reading all of these comments. I currently lost my phone and was able to alert the authorities using another passerby’s phone. I tried calling Jose but wasn’t able to reach him.

Please contact me via email at [email protected] . Thank you everyone for your blessings.

Laura A Bryan
Guest
Laura A Bryan
6 years ago
Reply to  Lucas zhao

That is not what my friends, the real first responders, say, Lucas. I call bullshit.

What exactly do you have to gain by fraudulently claiming responsibility for this?

Highly suspicious behavior, if you ask me. And kind of pathetic.

Paula
Guest
Paula
6 years ago
Reply to  Lucas zhao

I know the good samaritan who pulled the survivors out of the car and the woman who watched over and comforted the children until help arrived. I’m not sure who this Lucas person is. Use caution if you contact him.

Tracy
Guest
Tracy
6 years ago
Reply to  Samantha Cagle

Hi Samantha,

My name is Tracy and it was my boyfriend who pulled all five from the burning vehicle.

Your son was the first one he pulled from the car and I brought him into our car and stayed with him until the authorities came and were finally able to take him away in the ambulance. Jacob is a lovely and brave boy and I’m so very glad my boyfriend was able to help.

I’m thinking Lucas was the other responder to the scene who held and took care of the one year old girl after my boyfriend also pulled her from the burning vehicle. Thank you, Lucas!

We are grateful for this article being published so that we could learn more about what happened and find you, Samantha.

We live in San Francisco. My boyfriend will be in touch soon.

Much love,
Tracy
[email protected]

Tracy
Guest
Tracy
6 years ago

Actually, I’m not sure who Lucas is but I just read comments in another article that it was a man named Aris who was also there helping and held the one year old after my boyfriend pulled her from the burning vehicle.

Tracy
Guest
Tracy
6 years ago

Hi Lucas,

Please stop claiming responsibility for being the only one to save those five people in the accident. It was not only you so why are you publicly saying it was?

My boyfriend is also the hero who saved those people.

You are not very compassionate or caring for claiming it was only you.

Be a true, caring and compassionate human and admit you were not the only one.

Yes, you may have helped but you say nothing about anybody else actually pulling people from the vehicle. That person was my boyfriend. Thank you for helping with the two people once they were out of the car.

We have proof it was my boyfriend on many levels. You don’t even state where the correct location of the accident was while you were trying to claim you were the hero on Facebook as well as trying to make money off this tragedy on your photography web page page.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1609529289089722&id=442297615812901&comment_id=1610646772311307&notif_t=feed_comment&notif_id=1496182552570111&ref=m_noti

Tracy
Guest
Tracy
6 years ago

Lucas,

You say nothing of anybody else helping you.

If you were there, which I do not doubt that you were, you would have noticed that somebody actually pulled people out of the burning car, all of them. That person was my boyfriend.

Yes, from there you may have done some good and helped them away from the scene, that is amazing so thank you. But please do not claim responsibility for this on your own. Because that’s simply not the truth.

Kris
Guest
Kris
6 years ago

Wow, Tracy, thanks for the real story and give our love to your boyfriend. See you both this summer. Kris